Burial box



Patented Oct. 11, 1949 BURIAL BOX v Wilbert W. Haase, Forest Park, 'Ill., assigner to Wilbert Manufacturers Association,

Forest Park, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application September 28, 1945, Serial No. 619,124

(Cl. 'Z2-7 1 Claim. l

This invention relates to a sectional burial box. It has long been common practice to employ wooden boxes as burial boxes or so-called rough boxes, but the shortage of lumber for' making these boxes in recent times has presented manufacturers with the problem of providing satisfactory burial boxes of other materials. One material which suggests itself for this purpose is ordinary sand and gravel concrete but the prohibitive weight of sand and gravel concrete makes it impossible to construct a burial box of such material if the walls of the base or body of the box or the cover are made of single unitary structures. Thus it will readily be appreciated that the weight of the base or body of 'such a box and the weight of the cover thereof would be far in excess of that which one man could handle and lift at and into a grave opening. However, I have found that a burial box may be advantageously made in part of sand and gravel concrete following the design and construction of the sectional burial box which forms the subject matter of the present invention.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sectional burial box made in part from sand and gravel concrete'and in part from other composition materials and so constructed and arranged that each of the component parts thereof may be readily handled by a single man and so that the component parts of the box may be assembled in a grave opening without the necessity for handling prohibitive weights.

An additional object of the invention is to construct the new sectional burial box in such a manner that it possesses relatively great structural strength and resistance to crushing forces to which burial boxes are subjected in grave openings after the grave opening has been filled.

An additional object of the invention is to construct the new sectional burial box in such a manner that it is not dependent on the weight or pressure of the earth in the grave opening to hold'the parts thereof together is assembled relationship.

A further object of the invention is to construct the new sectional burial box in such a manner that the component parts thereof are securely held together in assembled relationship without the use of any bolts, screws or other like fastening devices.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which, by way of illustration, A`shows a preferred embodiment and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodyingthe same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

,l Inthe drawing, f

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a typical embodiment of the new sectional burial box showing a portion thereof broken away better to illustrate the construction of the same;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the body or base of the new burial box, the top thereof being removed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional viewof line 3-3 in Fig. 1; and v ,l Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view illustrating a feature of the invention.

A typical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawing and comprises a sectional burial box generally indicated at IIJ. The new sectional burial box Ill includes a pair of unitary side walls Il which are relatively thin and light in construction and are preferably composed of asbestos Vconcrete or other suitable material suitably pressed and formed into a single slab or sheet.

The new sectional burial box I0 also includes a pair of end walls I2- which are composed of sand and gravel concrete formed into slabs of the proper size and thickness.

The new sectional burial box Il) also includes a sectional bottom Wall I3 and a sectional top wall I4. The Asectional bottom wall I3 isvcomposed of a plurality of slabs I3a, which are preferably made of a suitable quality or type of sand and gravel concrete, and are shown as being four in number. Similarly, the sectional top wall I4 is preferably composed of a plurality of slabs I4a of sand and gravel concrete which are shown as being four in number. It will be understood, however, that the number of slabs embodied in the sectional bottom wall I3'a and in the sectional top wall-I4 is dependent `upon the desired length of the box. Thus, while four slabs forma box of average length, it may be desirable and necessary to employ one o r more additional slabs in longer boxes.

Asshown in the drawing, the lower end portion lla of each of the side walls Il extends into a groove I5 which is formed in the upper surface of each of the bottom slabs or sections 13a and the upper end portion IIb of each side Wall II projects slightly above the upper edges I6 of the end walls I2 and into a corresponding groove I'I formed in the under surface of each of the top Wall slabs or sections I4a.

Similarly, the end edges IIc of the side Walls II project into vertically extending` grooves I8 which are formed inthe end walsIZ,f oni. the inner sides thereof, as shown in Fig. 2'.

As best shown in Fig. 4, each of the grooves I5 l0.l has a vertically extending or straight inner side" wall I9 and anangularly formed outer sidewall 20 and the other grooves I1 and I8 are similarly formed for a reason which wil-eimadeapparent presently.

In assembling the new sectional burial" box the concrete slabs I3a and-Mincir th'etop landi bottom walls I3 and I4, respectively, may. be formed of sand and gravel concrete, of suitable` quality and thickness, with the grooves I5 and I1 20 formed "therein during tne--fdrrning orA moldingv o'peraticn.v Similarly; the end walls- |2^mayf be formedof sand and gravelconcrete of suitable qualityand' thickness witl'itliis'I grooves`V I 3- formed therein'as sliovwnV during theiormingoperation:

Inassembling' the new sectional burialrbox, the bottom' slabsor'sections'wlt'a will be laid'v endto end' in 'tliebottomrof trieigraveopening andthe relativelylight sidewalls twill then be inserted in upright position with their lower edge portions II'projecting" intii the" grooves IE which are formedL i'n the upper surface' of the bottom-wall slabs or` sections i321: The' endwallseetionsi2 will thenbe' arranged in' mcriglitpositionl ont-lie end bottoni slabs isawitirtne end portions Hc ortne sidewallsll projecting into' 'the' grooves i il which are formed in the inner surfaces'offtlle endw'alls"l'2`i'` After the casket has been lowered ihto ythebasc of tire sectional boxA tlius formed; the topslabs Illa will then be laid uporrthebse o'ftheboxfin endftoend relation'-with tlienpper edge'A portions II'Bof-trie'sidewalls' l l'l projectingfintoitnegrooves IT which are*formedm-'tlielowersurfaces ofthe topV wall slabs or secticnsrlda; as'sliown: v

It will 'benoted that each* ofthe-grooves l i-1` andl alliasra` straightv or y"vertically" extending ins sid'et'fallv lef and-an'V angl'edcutside walli ziifwriicli extends-at anaeuteangleL-tdtne-vertically exe tending inside wall so that the pressure'''th ear'tn` against the's'idewail's If`l-l`forces tnoseipertiensv of'tliesiclewaHs which! are: disposed the g'roovess-l 5;' H andl l`s` intoclose ccntact-witlrtne vertically extending straight inside vwallsIliioifl the g'rcoves; thereby forming atightfor closel seal therewitha The angled out'eri sidewalls orftne grooves I5", Iiland-v Iffacilitatithei insertion of portions of the side wallsfinto'f the groovesy and into close ttirigengagement with the straight innerside wallsfle of'theegrooves:

It will 'thus-be seen f-rornftneiforegoirig"descrip:l tion, considered-iny conjunctini wltnthe *accenna panyingf drawingA thatth'present inventionv prow vides-aVV new and improved? sectional burialb'ox composed-of relatively-thin, strongffarid-,unit'ar-y G5 but" light side wallS sections, unitary" endweils; andv sectional top-andrv bottomwalls' made ofi Sandi' and gravell concrete' butfcfsucnsize andi weight tiia-t'fthey mayf be readilif-fliitediandl nantlledibyr a; single man'sso" as torniake `it possibl'etoA assemble? the new sectional burial box in a. graveopeningfs Moreover, it will 'alsol lbeiSieex'i frinfi theli'foregoing description that the component parts oi the new sectional burial box are held together in assembled relationship without the use oi any bolts, screws or like fastening devices, and without reliance upon the pressure or Weight of the earth in the grave opening as in the case of certain prior art sectional burial boxes. This is an importantfeature o'i thelnew'sectional burial Boxi'siri'ce" it has'been foundV thatv certain of the prior art sectional burial boxes, which rely upon pressure of the earth in the grave opening to hold the' parts thereof together in assembled relationship, collapse and fall apart if an adjoining grave'is opened..

t' will` also thu'sbe seen from the foregoing description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, that the present invention-provides a new and improved sectional burial box having the desirable advantages and characteristios, and accomplishing its intended objects, including those hereinbeforeA pointedoutand t'hers vwhich are inherent' in' the invention;

claim:

A.sectionalburial box comprisinga plurality ot similarly formed'V cementitiousf base sections alignedvr with each .other inabutting. relationship, each section having. a transverse groove formed therein adjacent theiree marginal edgesthereoi.; thegrooves of the aligned sections beingin alignment with one anothenandf constituting a. spaced pair of continuous side walllreceivinggrooves,each groove-having a. vertically disposed'. inner. wall; aflat` base surfaceV` off a. widthcorresponding,,to the. width. offthey edgeA of .a sidewall to ber received therein, and an .angularlyy disposedouter surface deningaspaoe.betweenthe outerfsur-iace of the side-wall housed-inthe groove, a pair, of .relatively light- Weight. one-piece side wall. sections,. each corresponding'. substantially inflengtll'i.l tothe. total length oft the.basesaid sections being.. disposed vertically .inthe-said. grooves ,in-the base with-the inner wall of each sectionsabuttingthe. inner` wall oteach groove-alpairof opposite end .wallsh-aving internal( vertical, grooves .complementary inshape to the'. first mentionedgrooves adjacent the. opfposi-te side edges thereon, the.: respective ends oft theside walls beingreceived within thegrooves ofi the ,fv respectiveend: walls,l and. .asectional` top comprisingY a plural-ity-7 of'; similarlyl formed` sections each l. having a groove adjacent the f opp ositeY edgesI corresponding, in shape to thefirstmentioned grooves, said top sections being disposed upon the sidei walllsectionswith the. grooves inthe y topreceiving the upperwed-gesV ofthe side Wall sections,..each of, the component. elementsA eitheboxbeing; of such; weighty thaty a single workman mayhandle the same-and. thegangularly disposed surface-.ot eachrgroove facilitating ready asserrlbly,- of. the component sections... v

REFERENCES 'CTEJ- following references are::of record V infthe file of this patent:

Number. Name: Date:

1575637.41' Morray s- May'z; 18W 597:,625 Van' Camp -nml Jan; V.1418, v 189B 1,090,953 Van Nostrand Mar. 24; l59lt4i` 15860,?266 

